The Billionaire’s Tenacious Boss (The Maxfield Brothers Series Book 1) (6 page)

“Stephen, do you have to talk about business now?” she said in a tight voice.

“Sorry,” he murmured. An awkward silence descended over the table until Nathan asked Ben a question. The boy lit up, and he answered his uncle’s questions with glee. When dinner was over, Ben led Nathan and Gabe upstairs to show them his video games.

“Another glass of wine?” Suzanne asked. She grabbed a fresh bottle and her own glass and headed into the living room.

“Another bottle is more like,” Angie said with a laugh. “But I should probably start with the one glass.”

“I admire you,” Suzanne said as they settled in the plush chairs. “It can’t be easy to work with that family of men all the time.”

Suzanne admired her? That was laughable. “Normally it’s only Duncan and Gabe. Stephen has been gone for more than a decade, and Nathan’s been gone for a few years now too. They’ve only been under the same roof for a few days now,” she said with a shrug.

“They’re a strange family. I wish I had known their mother. I think she was the glue that held the family together, and once she died, everyone kind of drifted apart. I know they all care about the company, but they’re less likely to admit that they care about each other. The boys were close when Stephen and I got married, but by the time we divorced, they weren’t even speaking to each other.”

“Why did you divorce?” Angie asked bluntly. She immediately blushed. “I’m sorry. That’s such a personal question, and I had no right to ask that.”

Suzanne smiled softly at her. “It’s fine. We used to be crazy in love. To a certain degree, we’re still quite fond of each other. There wasn’t a huge fight or anything. It was a lot of little things that kept adding up. Stephen’s company wasn’t doing well. He blamed his father for that, and the strain was wearing on him. We were never financially hurting, but Stephen wanted to prove that he could do it on his own. Long working days turned into long working weeks. I’d go several days at a time without seeing him. I learned to live without him, and then I realized that I didn’t want to live like that. I didn’t want to be able to live without my husband. I asked for a divorce, but he wanted to try to make it work. We gave it another shot, but we realized we were only doing it for Ben. The divorce went through without any problems. My only regret is that he can’t see Ben more often.”

Angie sipped her wine thoughtfully. It was clear that Stephen and Duncan were more alike than Stephen wanted to admit. When Duncan had been active in the company, there had been days where he’d sleep at the office. He thought it was lazy that no one else would do the same.

“I see the way he looks at you,” Suzanne said suddenly. Angie blushed and opened her mouth to refute it, but Suzanne waved her hand. “Please. Duncan doesn’t do anything except with an ulterior motive. I know his insistence that Ben and I spend the weekend here had more to do with his needs than ours. It’s obvious that Duncan disapproves of your relationship. I guess he thought that if you knew that Stephen had baggage, you’d be less interested.”

“You’re not wrong about Duncan. And I’m sorry that he pulled you in the middle of it. The truth is that Stephen and I aren’t anything more than business associates. And if we become anything further, it’s a decision that I’ll make without reference to Duncan,” Angie declared. She added, “A little baggage doesn’t scare me.” And it was clear to her that Duncan thought that Suzanne would intimidate her.

“It sounds to me like you’ve already made up your mind,” Suzanne said with a smile.

Had she already decided that she and Stephen would give it a shot? “I would be lying if I didn’t say that there was an attraction between us. But I’ve worked hard to get where I am at this company, and I’m not about to give that up over a silly crush.”

“Well, be careful. I love Stephen, but he’s an intense man. He’ll take over your life.”

Angie contemplated that as she drank her wine. Suzanne continued to reminisce funny stories about the boys and Stephen, but Angie was only half-listening. Suzanne’s warning stuck with her. She’d built a life that was devoid of men. If she let Stephen in, it was possible that he would ruin everything.

But every time she closed her eyes at night, those beautiful blue eyes haunted her.

* * *

T
he next day
, Stephen pushed everything aside to spend more time with his son, but Ben didn’t seem to feel the same way. When he tried to invite his son to play some basketball, Ben shrugged it off and said no. When he offered to take Ben to the park, his son said that he wasn’t interested. It wasn’t until Gabe and Nathan showed up that Ben seemed finally to come to life.

“Can we go swimming?” he asked excitedly. “I’ve been practicing doing back-flips off the diving board!”

“Sure,” Gabe said with a laugh. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been in the pool.”

Ben immediately threw the controller for the game down and raced to change into his bathing suit. Stephen looked on dejectedly. “He hates me. My own son hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you,” Nathan said with a shake of his head. “We’ve always been cooler than you.”

Nathan could joke all he wanted, but Ben was simply different when he was with his uncles. He talked about school and his friends. He easily opened up about what he wanted, but whenever Stephen asked a question, the boy seemed to shut down. The feeling of rejection slowly turned to anger, and Stephen shoved it down. There was no point in bringing it up while Ben was having fun.

They cooked out on the grill for dinner. Suzanne met with some friends, and Duncan was having dinner with Angie to discuss something about work. Stephen spoke very little about business. He didn’t want to use up what little time he had with his son on things like work. The more he listened and watched Ben, the more he realized that he’d missed so much in his son’s life.

When had things spun out of control? There was a time where Stephen would have made the earth move to see his son, but work was always getting in the way, and soon Ben quit asking to see him. The worse part was that Stephen didn’t even realize it until now.

Was he becoming his father?

After dinner, Gabe and Nathan both kissed Ben goodnight before they left. Ben immediately changed clothes and slumped back in front of the television with the game controller. Alone with his son, Stephen tried his best to get Ben to talk to him. “How are your grades?” he asked quietly.

“Fine.”

Fine? “Could you be more specific than that?”

“I don’t know. Ask Mom.” Ben’s eyes were glued to the screen.

Stephen sighed. Clearly, Ben didn’t want to talk about his grades. “And how’s the soccer thing going?”

“It’s over.”

Over? “What do you mean, over? Aren’t you interested in soccer anymore?”

“The season is over.”

Suddenly Stephen couldn’t take it anymore. He reached over and ripped the controller out of Ben’s hands. “Look at me when I’m talking to you!” he shouted suddenly.

“What the hell?” Ben said.

“You do not use words like that! And you certainly don’t speak to your father that way! What has gotten into you? This is supposed to be our time to spend together, and all you want to do is play these video games! Is this why your grades aren’t good? You’re spending too much time racing cars instead of studying?”

“What do you care?” Ben suddenly burst into tears.

“I care because I’m your father!” Stephen roared.

“Stephen!”

He whirled around to see Angie staring at him from the doorway. Ben raced past them as he left the room.

“Shit,” Stephen said as his anger deflated.

“What the hell was that all about? I came to say goodnight, and you’re screaming at your son!”

“It’s none of your business,” he said tightly. “Good night.”

He tried to brush past her to go after Ben, but she grabbed his arm. “It’s none of my business, but you need to cool off. Whatever is going on here is more than video games, and you know it.”

Staring at her, he realized that she was right. He had a problem with the fact that Ben was ignoring him, and until he knew why, he couldn’t do anything to change it. He shrugged helplessly. “What can I do?” he groaned.

“Cool off. Then apologize to him.”

She let go of him and walked down the hall. He sagged against the wall as he watched her leave. How had things gotten so out of hand between him and his son? And why was it that Angie of all people should be the one to witness his meltdown?

But she was right. So instead of going after Ben, he went to his own room and changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt. He was too worried to sleep, but there was nothing else he could do tonight anyway.

“We need to talk,” Suzanne said in a tight voice.

Stephen looked up as she walked into his room. He was about to turn down his bed. “What?” he asked with a sigh.

“What do you mean, ‘what’? You know exactly what’s wrong. You screamed at our son!” she exclaimed.

“He needs to pay attention to me when I’m speaking to him! I’m his father, and he doesn’t respect me. All he wants to do is play those damn video games,” Stephen retorted.

“He’s ten, he’s a kid,” Suzanne sighed. “What is this really about?”

Pinching the bridge of his nose to alleviate his stress headache, he finally shook his head. “It’s like he’s not even my son anymore. He’s barely spoken to me this entire trip. All the information I get is secondhand. Suzanne, I haven’t seen him since Christmas, but it’s like he’s turned into a different child.”

Suzanne stood at the foot of the bed and stared at him. “Stephen, you’ve missed so much this year. From games to award ceremonies to Bring Your Father to School day.”

“Bring Your Father to School day? I don’t even know what that is.”

“Because when he does invite you to events, you’re always too busy. So he’s stopped telling you about things. That’s how he copes. That way he’s not disappointed by you letting him down,” she said softly.

With a soft moan, Stephen sank into the bed next to her. “Shit. I am the worse father in the world.”

“No. You’re not,” Suzanne said as she put her arms around him. “Part of it is my fault. I moved three cities away, and I always take Ben with me when I go on weekend out-of-town trips. It makes it difficult for you to see him. And you do make an effort. I guess I didn’t realize how much of an effect it had on him.”

“Okay. Well what can we do?”

“First you’re going to curb that temper of yours. You know that it was part of our problem, and I’ll be damned if you take your frustrations out on Ben,” Suzanne said in a stern voice. “And then we’re going to figure out a more strict schedule and stick with it.”

Startled, Stephen looked up. “You’d do that for me?”

“Ben needs his father,” she said with a smile. “Come on. Let’s go say goodnight to him.”

Together, they walked to Ben’s room. It broke his heart to see that Ben had been crying, and when he saw them, he immediately turned his back to them. “Ben,” Suzanne said in a small voice. “Can we talk to you?”

“What do you want?” he mumbled.

“First of all, you need to turn back around and look at us,” she said in a harder tone. “I know you’re upset, but there’s no need to be rude.”

With a sigh, Ben sat up and faced them. Stephen sat at the edge of the bed and looked at him. “Ben, I know I’ve missed some important things this year. It’s been hard to juggle schedules, but I promise I’m going to do better, and your mom is going to help me.”

Hope bloomed in Ben’s eyes. “Really?” he asked in a soft voice.

Stephen smiled. Relief flooded through him. His son still wanted to see him after all. “There are games and events that I’m still going to miss, but I’m going to come to as many as I possibly can. And your mom is going to let you stay with me some weekends. Would you like that?”

His son nodded and reached over to hug him. Stephen felt a great weight lift from his shoulder as he reached over to hug his son. Finally, the boy crawled back under the covers, and Stephen kissed him goodnight.

When Suzanne said her goodnights, they flipped off the light switch and quietly closed the door.

“Thank you,” Stephen said in a hushed voice. “The fact that you’re willing to do this means the world to me.”

“Good. And just so you know, I like her.”

Stephen raised his eyebrows. He knew who she was talking about, but he played dumb. “Who?”

“You know who. Don’t let this feud with your father get in the way of your chance at happiness, Stephen.” She leaned over to give him a peck on the cheek before she entered her bedroom and closed the door.

Stephen thought about what she’d said as he finally lay down to sleep. It wasn’t his father as much as it was Angie herself keeping them apart.

That, and the fact that he wasn’t entirely sure he could trust her.

S
tephen enjoyed spending
time with Ben for the rest of the weekend, and it was over way too soon. Sleep-deprived but otherwise happy, he dragged himself into Gabe’s office. “You needed to see me?” he asked, yawning. Nathan was already seated in one of the chairs. Stephen took a moment to glare at his two brothers. They both looked so alert and at ease. Stephen had spent all weekend stressing out about having Suzanne so close to Angie. It didn’t make it any easier when he realized that the two women were actually getting along really well.

And he’d spent every spare moment he had talking with the manager of his own company, trying to fix things there.

“Why do you think that Duncan invited Suzanne and Ben over this weekend?”

So much for small talk. Stephen slumped into the chair and shrugged. “Probably he thought that Ben would take my mind off the company for a while,” he lied.

Gabe knew him too well. Or maybe he knew Duncan too well. “And it had nothing to do with the glances that you and Angie were exchanging Friday night over dinner?” he asked wryly. Stephen didn’t say a word, but that didn’t stop Gabe. “Why are you messing with her?”

“I’m not ‘messing’ with anyone,” Stephen said softly. “And if I were, it’s none of your business.”

“It’s my business when it affects the company. I called you here to help me save Duncan Enterprises, not so that you can be seduced by the woman who is trying to run it into the ground,” Gabe snapped.

Stephen raised his eyebrows. “What happened to the Gabe who said that Angie was good for the company? Weren’t you the one who said that you didn’t have an issue with her being Senior VP?”

Gabe sighed and sat back in his chair. He fiddled with a stress ball while Nathan tapped on the desk with his fingertips. “You know, I’m good at my job. I’ve had so many offers to leave this company and take my talents elsewhere. If Duncan Enterprises went under, it would be no skin off my nose. Especially since Angie is VP. Nothing would reflect badly on me, and I’d finally be able to do whatever I wanted.”

“And what do you want to do?”

“I want to have a job where I’m respected,” Gabe snapped.

“So why did you call me here to save the company if you don’t give a shit if it goes under?” Stephen asked softly.

“Professional integrity. What kind of businessman am I if I let the firm go under without doing more to save it,” he said finally.

“And it has nothing to do with family?” Stephen asked curiously. There was still something Gabe wasn’t telling him.

Gabe ignored him. “I found this in the printer in her office,” he said as he slid a piece of paper across the desk.

Stephen didn’t move to pick it up. “Why were you in her office?”

“She was supposed to get me some reports on Friday, but she never came back to the office. This morning I went to pick them up, but she wasn’t in. But the office was unlocked.” There was no apology in Gabe’s voice.

“And the files were in the fax machine?”

“It took some time for me to find what I was looking for,” Gabe challenged. “So I checked the fax machine, I thought maybe she might have scanned them into the computer to email them to me.”

Stephen stared at the sheet of paper. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to pick it up. Gabe wouldn’t give him something of Angie’s unless it was incriminating. That much was certain. And Stephen wasn’t sure he wanted to see it.

But he had a job to do, and Gabe obviously thought it was important. With a sigh, he reached over to pick up the piece of paper.

“Shit,” he said softly. “She shouldn’t be giving out this kind of information.” It was a detailed report on the ongoing projects and possible future projects. “Where was this going?”

“I checked the log, but there weren’t any faxes sent from her office on Friday. So I can only assume she hasn’t sent it yet. I made this copy and left the original in the printer. I’ve asked IT to send me a report of all faxes sent from her office today.”

“Isn’t that a bit ridiculous?” Nathan chimed in.

It did seem excessive, Stephen thought, but if Angie was sending this kind of information to other companies, they needed to know. He looked at Gabe. “What do you want to do?”

“If the three of us vote her out, many of the board members are likely to follow suit. Duncan will have no choice but to fire her,” Gabe pointed out.

“And elect you the new VP?” Nathan said. “This sounds incredibly selfish. Not to mention that it would be a huge political mistake. The press would be all over us.”

“So you’d rather let her take the company apart than face some scrutiny from the public?” Gabe snapped.

“Hold on,” Stephen said, putting his hands up to calm things down. “Let’s think about this rationally. Gabe, I think we can all agree that you deserve to run this company. The fact that Duncan doesn’t want you at the top probably means something, but there’s nothing that we can do about that right now.”

“We should stop her now before she gives out this kind of information,” Gabe insisted.

“But then we wouldn’t know what she was planning,” Stephen reasoned. “Just because she had a piece of paper in the printer doesn’t mean that she’s selling company secrets.”

“So let’s ask her about it,” Nathan suggested.

“And let her know that we’re onto her?” Gabe threw up his hands. “That’s a great idea.”

“Hold on,” Stephen said. “Angie already knows that you hate her, so it’s not like she thinks she has you duped. Nathan has a point. We know that she’s most likely lying, but if we pretend to buy whatever story she gives us, and then make sure we protect this information, we can watch her more closely. I trust Nathan’s judgment. And I need her.”

“Need her for what?” Nathan said suspiciously.

“There’s a 3.4 million-dollar building job in Chicago. Luxury high-rise condos with first floor shopping. Companies all over the country are vying for the job.”

“Duncan would never agree to that job,” Gabe said absently. “Not if he’s trying to sell off Construction. And what makes you think Chicago will hire us?”

Stephen smiled wickedly. “Duncan undercuts my own company to steal jobs from me. If my company makes an offer, and it looked like Chicago will accept it, Duncan will swoop in to steal the job from me. I’m not equipped to handle the job myself, but Duncan doesn’t have to know that.”

“Christ,” Nathan murmured. “What a bastard.”

Gabe only cocked his head. “Your company could price the job really low, so Duncan would have to take a huge cut by winning the job.”

“And there’s the run. But Duncan gets all his information from Angie. So if we feed her the wrong information, Duncan will push it through. The thing is, I’ve already spoken to Chicago. Someone in the company owes me a favor. They want Duncan Enterprises to work for them, and they know that this is the only way to get Duncan to do it. If Angie thinks the profit margin is much smaller than it is, Duncan will approve it.”

“And when Angie signs a contract with the real numbers in play?” Nathan asked.

“She won’t be able to turn it down without it looking suspicious,” Stephen said confidently. “This job alone would put Construction enough in the black to make the board members think twice about selling.”

“Stephen. That’s an awesome plan. And you’ll definitely need Angie to do it,” Nathan said with a smile.

Gabe looked less than happy. “It is a good plan,” he said grudgingly. “Fine. You can go ask her what she was doing with this information. But don’t trust her, Stephen.”

“I’ll keep an open mind,” Stephen promised.

“She and Suzanne seemed awfully cozy this weekend,” Gabe said. “I wonder what secrets they traded.”

“Angie doesn’t know any secrets about me,” Stephen said with a frown. What was his brother up to?

“But Suzanne certainly does. If Angie was interested before, I wonder what she thinks of you now? Keep that in mind when you’re talking to her.” He stood. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some work I need to do.”

Stephen walked out with Nathan, and Gabe shut the door behind them. “What was that all about?” Nathan whispered.

“He doesn’t want me to take her side,” Stephen said.

“Are you interested in her?”

“She’s attractive, and we’ve flirted a little. But I can keep my head about myself,” Stephen snapped.

“No judgments here,” Nathan said as he put his hands up in surrender. “But Gabe’s not wrong. You and Suzanne are fine now, but there was a time that you weren’t. And they were talking a lot this weekend.”

“One problem at a time,” Stephen said. But he couldn’t help but wonder what his ex-wife had told Angie. And it bothered him even more that he cared.

* * *

A
ngie was lugging
her tote out to her car when she heard someone shouting her name. With a frown, she looked over her shoulder. Stephen was jogging across the parking lot.

Great. This was all she needed right now. “I’m done for the day,” she said as he caught up with her. “Whatever you need will have to wait until tomorrow.”

“It’s only two o’clock,” he pointed out as he slowed down to match her pace.

“Yes, I’m aware of what time it is,” she said ignoring the obvious question. She didn’t owe him an explanation of why she was leaving early. Opening her car door, she thrust the tote inside.

“Well, I have some business that I need to tend to with you,” he said as he leaned against her car.

“And as I’ve already pointed out, it will have to wait until tomorrow. Goodbye Stephen.” She opened the driver’s door and got in without sparing another glance. As she started the car, the passenger door opened, and Stephen slid in. “What the hell are you doing?” If she didn’t leave right now, she was going to be late.

“This can’t wait until tomorrow,” he said casually. “So we’ll talk on the way.”

“You’re not coming with me,” she said firmly. “If there is something you want to discuss with me, then you can call me later.”

“Yeah, but then I won’t know where you’re going.” He gave her a big grin when she glanced at the clock again. “Are you going to be late?”

“Yes, I am,” she snapped. “And why do you need to know where I’m going?”

“Well, that’s part of the reason that I need to talk to you. You can start driving. I’d hate to make you late for anything.”

He snapped on his seat belt, and she groaned inwardly. Instead of trying to talk him out of it and making herself really late, she just backed the car up and began to drive. “What the hell is so important that you have to hijack my car?”

“It’s not hijacking,” he said casually. “It’s good time management. You and Suzanne were getting along splendidly this weekend. What were you two talking about?”

Angie rolled her eyes. “Is that what this is about? Are you concerned that your ex-wife killed whatever spark I was holding for you?”

“You were holding a spark for me?” he asked with a smile.

“Suzanne and I did talk about you. We also talked about your family, my family, Ben, and the company. Because that’s what women do when they get together. And the specifics are none of your business.”

He stared quietly out the window for a few minutes. “I never did thank you for helping me with Ben. You were right. There were some underlying issues.”

Uncomfortable, she shifted in her seat. “No problem.”

Finally, he passed over a sheet of paper. Her eyes flitted down for a moment. “What is it? I can’t read that, I’m driving.”

“It’s a piece of paper that was found in your personal printer.” A feeling of dread came over her, but she let him finish. “It’s information on all of our current and upcoming projects. It’s sensitive information.”

“And what exactly were you doing in my office?” she demanded.

“I wasn’t the one who found it. It was brought to my attention by someone else. Now we know that you haven’t sent it to anyone, so if you can give me a reasonable explanation, we’ll forget that it even happened.”

Angie wasn’t going to lie. She was raised not to lie, and it wasn’t like Stephen wasn’t going to find out anyway. “It was going to Marks Construction. They need more information before they consider our offer,” she said quietly.

“Offer?” she heard his temper rising, and she gripped the steering wheel. “Our offer to what? Sell?”

“Stephen,” she said quietly.

“Are you fucking kidding me? The board hasn’t agreed to sell and you’re already laying out numbers and providing sensitive information? And to Marks Construction of all people! What the hell were you thinking?” he growled at her.

“Marks can offer the best price,” Angie said softly. She had known that he would be angry if he found out. “But I can’t do anything until the board agrees.”

“First of all, Tucker Marks is insufferable, and the day I let you sell to him will be the day that my body is cold and stiff and lying in the ground. Secondly, you shouldn’t be pushing through a deal that is not guaranteed. You don’t have the authority!”

“You’re right, I don’t,” she said calmly.

It finally sunk in, and he sighed. “Duncan gave you the authority. Son-of-a-bitch!” He slammed his fists on her dashboard.

“Stop that!” she snapped. “Duncan is selling. Why should you care so much about it? You never gave a damn about this company before! And now that it’s too late, you’re ready to swoop in and save the day? So tell me, Mr. Maxfield, exactly what is your big plan?”